A long-term undercover intelligence operation hangs in the balance as the District of Columbia appeals a circuit court judge's ruling ordering the Metro Police Department to reveal the identities of all undercover officers who have infiltrated and become active in a controversial anti-Bush group.

As part of an ongoing intelligence operation, D.C. undercover officers had posed as activists and infiltrated the International Action Center, or IAC, and its affiliates.

The officers attended the center's meetings, including those held in members' homes.

Some of the officers have been on long-term assignment and continue to operate undercover and provide law-enforcement agencies with intelligence data.

The D.C. Circuit Court's order followed a motion filed by the IAC that sought to discover the identities of any undercover officers who had infiltrated the group or its related organizations.

The motion is part of an ongoing lawsuit filed in 2001, charging the U.S. government, the Bush-Cheney Presidential Inaugural Committee and the District of Columbia with constitutional violations. They include the use of government agents provocateurs who allegedly assaulted protesters lining the inauguration parade route, the discriminatory operation of security checkpoints to deny access to protesters and unconstitutional disruption tactics of the police Civil Disturbance Units.

The plaintiffs allege covert law-enforcement personnel beat, pepper-sprayed, intimidated and terrorized peaceful protesters. They also contend a key checkpoint that was supposed to be manned by either the Secret Service or the Metro Police Department was instead delegated to the control of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, a private corporation, that subsequently detained protesters for hours while allowing Bush supporters to pass.

Lawyers from the Partnership for Civil Justice are working the case on behalf of IAC.

The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages from the Presidential Inaugural Committee and compensatory damages from the District of Columbia, as well as the filing of various permanent and declaratory injunctions.

What is the IAC?

The IAC describes itself as an unincorporated political association that fights racism, sexism, oppression of "gays," war and militarism, and the program of the Bush administration.

The group shot to prominence when it created an anti-war coalition named International ANSWER, immediately after 9-11.

ANSWER was formed to combat the "criminal conduct" of the U.S., and went on to organize and dominate the recent anti-war demonstrations.

Some see ANSWER as little more than an ideological tool of the IAC, which key activists and writers on both the right and the left claim is a front for the Workers World Party  a group condemned by critics as hypocritical because of its support of China's invasion and occupation of Tibet, the crushing of the 1956 Hungarian revolution and Tiannemen Square protests, and its adulation of Fidel Castro and Kim Jong-Il.

The IAC and WWP also oppose U.S. interventionism abroad, and act and publish material in support of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and National Liberation Army  both of which are labeled terrorist groups by the U.S. State Department.

Adding to the controversy surrounding the group, the highest-ranking defector from the Soviet intelligence community, Ion Mihai Pacepa, recently stated that the Workers World Party was created in 1959 by the KGB's disinformation department and was tasked with portraying the U.S. as a war-mongering country full of political prisoners.

Pacepa says WWP leaders were originally trained and indoctrinated by the KGB overseas. The former intelligence chief defected in 1973 and allows that the group may have taken on a life of its own since then, even as the message remains the same.

Two of the plaintiffs in the case, Larry Holmes and Brian Becker, are described in court documents as co-directors of the IAC.

Both also are decades-long members of the secretariat of the Workers World Party, an affiliation not noted in court filings.

Protest group to 'evaluate conduct' of officers

Judge Gladys Kessler agreed with the protesters that revealing the undercover officers' identities was necessary so IAC leaders could effectively "evaluate" the conduct of the officers and determine whether additional acts of alleged misconduct have occurred.

The Office of the Corporation Counsel  attorneys for the Metro Police Department  is appealing the decision, arguing the plaintiffs have consistently failed to identify the "disruptive conduct" or specify any illegal or otherwise actionable conduct, whether or not they suspect it was committed by an undercover officer.

Assistant Chief of Police Alfred Broadbent previously testified to concerns for the safety of the officers and their families, stating while many protest organizations are peaceful, there had been incidents across the country and locally where police officers have been "seriously injured and even killed."

The court ruled the assistant chief's concerns were invalid because he could provide no evidence that the officers would be in danger and because he was unable to identify any violent incidents from members of the organizations being investigated.

Previous attempts by the defendants to obtain through the court names of members of the plaintiffs organizations, political activities of the members and contributor lists were ruled violations of the protesters' First Amendment rights and were not allowed by the court. The IAC successfully argued the defendants were using the litigation process "for intelligence purposes" and to create "an enemy's list of all persons who have ever engaged in political dissent."

Broadbent also voiced concerns that revealing the undercover officers' identities would end the ongoing intelligence operation: "[This] intelligence information [is used] to make decisions on how to ensure the safety of the citizens and general public."

The court acknowledged the police department's concern that such an order would bring its intelligence operation to an end, flatly stating, "The identification of these undercover officers has been ordered by Judge Kessler and this disclosure will effectively terminate any ongoing investigations into the Plaintiff's organizations being conducted by these officers."

A subsequent hearing was charged with the seemingly oxymoronic task of choosing a method of "disclosure" that provided maximum confidentiality to the officers: Ten personnel members of the IAC were to be allowed to view photos of the undercover officers, and their aliases were to be revealed.

Also to be revealed, per the judge's order, were the dates, times and locations of IAC events that the undercover cops had attended.

"I think this says it all about Kessler," said writer Michael Tremoglie, a former Philadelpia police officer. "She says it is imperative that the Metro D.C. Police Department release confidential information that might endanger the lives of U.S. citizens, yet a government commission cannot release info of possible criminal conduct of labor unions and the Democratic Party."

Tremoglie was referring to a 2001 decision by Kessler blocking the Federal Election Commission from re-releasing public documents from an FEC probe of AFL-CIO dealings with the Democratic Party. Kessler's order sought to protect "proprietary information," including campaign strategies and employees' names of the DNC.

In its appeal, the Office of the Corporation Counsel is arguing while no officer has been harmed, the threat of harm still exists, particularly for an officer who has been in a long-term undercover assignment.

The defendants also argue revealing undercover officers identities' would "chill" the police department's ability to recruit officers, who enter such assignments with the understanding and belief that their identity will not be disclosed by the department.

The IAC has contended the intelligence activities are illegal or unconstitutional, alleging such investigations are based not on suspected or potential criminal activity but on the political affiliations and First Amendment conduct of the plaintiffs.

The Metro Police Department states its operations are based on preventing the widespread destruction of property and violence that has occurred at numerous mass demonstrations that preceded the presidential inauguration.

They also have characterized undercover investigations conducted in preparation for inaugural events as seeking to identify, monitor and report on persons and/or groups that may be planning to disrupt the events, threaten property or public safety, or otherwise violate the law:

"[T]he Metropolitan Police Department's intelligence-gathering methods, including the use of undercover investigations, have been integral to the Department's success in minimizing property damage, violence and physical injuries at mass demonstrations. In contrast, since November 1999, there has been violence, significant property damage and physical injuries at mass demonstrations throughout the world, including Seattle, Wash.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Prague, Czechoslovakia; Quebec, Canada; and Genoa, Italy."

The defense has also stated law enforcement's ability to prepare for and provide security at demonstrations that occur in Washington, D.C. will be impaired if the identity of undercover officers is disclosed and that such intelligence gathering activities have been recognized as lawful for many years.

The defense lawyers argued the public interest in non-disclosure outweighs the IAC's stated need for disclosure.

Links to terrorist groups

WND asked the Office of the Corporation Counsel what bearing, if any, the IAC's relationship to terrorist groups had on potential court outcomes.

Peter Levallee, public information officer for the office, indicated they were unaware of any links between the IAC or its affiliates to terrorist groups.

In August 2001, IAC leaders shared their Washington, D.C., protest plans at an El Salvador meeting attended by Latin American revolutionary groups, including Faribundo Marti National Liberation of El Salvador and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The IAC has sent delegations to the latter group and the National Liberation Army, met with its leaders, relayed messages from leaders, agitated in support of the groups' goals and published material in support of the groups.

Both groups have made worldwide headlines for assassinations, kidnappings, bombings, disruption of the infrastructure and ties to the drug trade. In addition, a two-month investigation by U.S. News reported support cells for Islamic terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamiyya al Gammat were operating in Venezuela, and the country was in turn aiding Columbian rebels, a conclusion also supported by Gen. James Hill, the head of the U.S. Southern Command.

WND and UPI have also reported on Venezuelan government defectors who allege the Chavez government supports al-Qaida  a concern amplified by Venezuela's close proximity to the U.S., in particular to Florida.

Wealth of security data turned over

Despite it's support of terrorist groups, the International Action Center has succeeded in obtaining, by court order, large amounts of security data related to D.C. police operations and the presidential inauguration.

D.C. has already provided in excess of 1,000 pages of documents, 38 videotapes and numerous photographs and audiotapes related to D.C. police tactics, training and planning and the 2001 presidential inauguration

The information provided by the D.C. Metro Police Department by court order to the IAC so far includes:

Lesson plans and handbooks on use of aerosol sprays, force and tactical batons;

Portions of Operations Plan, Parade Manual and Civil Disturbance Unit Response Plan for the 54th Inauguration of the President of the United States;

All rooftop and street-level surveillance videotapes of the presidential inauguration;

The identities of all of the MPD officers who were detailed for Inauguration Day to intelligence teams;

Redacted logs from the Synchronized Operations Command Center and the Running Resume for the Inauguration Day intelligence teams; and

The identification of all plainclothes MPD officers who were detailed for the Inauguration.

Broadbent had previously testified that "disclosing the Department's intelligence reports, Intelligence Operational Plan or the identity of any undercover officers that may have been conducting an investigation would undermine significantly the Department's ability to plan for and provide security at mass demonstrations."

District defendants object to producing intelligence reports and the Intelligence Operational Plan developed for the presidential inauguration, arguing that it is information protected by law-enforcement privilege.

They point out the need for such a privilege is also recognized in the Freedom of Information Act, which contains an exemption for investigatory records, and that courts have historically recognized their release might create a risk of circumventing the law.

MPD has refused to produce a copy of the department's training video on "crowd control formations," arguing it's not relevant to the case and is information that could be misused to forewarn suspects and suspect groups, providing them with sensitive law-enforcement information, including possible strategies, procedures and directions for confidential investigations.

The IAC has also sought through the court stored images of the presidential inauguration from the Command Center, all departmental e-mails related to the protest and inauguration, and related departmental databases accessed by police officers.

The Metro Police Department has responded that there are no stored images, an e-mail search with related keywords turned up nothing and that the databases are irrelevant to the IAC's case.

"We will cheerfully help you with our own demise?Need a civil right..we have a million of them.Pick whatever you need to use against the security of our Capital and country.We also provide liberal judges to rule against us and for commies and terrorists"

"We also provide liberal judges to rule against us and for commies and terrorists"

MEG, I'm sure you've noticed, as have I, that almost every issue with which we are dealing involves these liberal judges that have so 'graciously' been provided. I'm not sure we can survive long enough to remedy the situation.

Our days are numbered when a judge prevents an organization with terrorist ties from being investigated. These people are Stalinists who are supporting Islamic and enviro-terrorists, as well as the various communist "revolutionary" groups around the world that go around shooting peasants.

I wonder if it would be possible to impeach a judge who is protecting terrorists? I sure would like to see the worst judges be recalled or impeached.

If IAC wants to use the courts, the Bush admin and SS should start doing house calls to their leaders residences in the same manner tht Clinton did to, well, to people who frequent(/ed) this forum. The DC police should also slap a RICO on the group, so they can protect their undercover officers. Fluid responses to these problems are required.

Reminiscent part of this, the cops are so deep undercover, and so plentiful in the organization that the IAC can't root them out. On the far right the same occured in the "Elohim City" while the build up towards OKCbombing.

ACORN and ANSWER have overlapping membership in DC, if I remember correctly from articles during the anti-war rallies in DC. When Clinton was doing the same, I first had a memory to the Asimov Foundation Trilogy, this new development fit the pattern of ever increasing security circles around the Emperors so clearly written of in the books.

Identifying the offending judges and the criteria for ousting them would vary from state to state. Any ideas on how this can be accomplished?

I know I am dreaming, but what if there were some sort of national movement to oust the worst of the worst of our judges? This movement would obviously have to have state and local branches to be effective. The left has been very successful at blocking all but the most leftist judicial appointments at the Federal level. They win because they are organized and they are not afraid to fight!

How many times are elected judges (both good and bad judges) re-elected by default because no one has kept tabs on their decisions? What if there were a clearinghouse for information about judges that a citizen could use without having to be a legal expert? We could gradually improve the quality of our judges -- sometimes whoever replaces an ousted judge would be just as bad, but not always.

The left has pretty much had the judiciary as home turf. It is time we "invaded" this turf. Perhaps we could destabilize the left by open means (trying to impeach bad judges) and also by more stealth means (being better-informed and organized about what elected judges to support or oppose). This would make the left have to defend itself from every direction. It would be crucial for them to keep leftist judges in office. Even if they are able to retain a bad judge, we will have had a partial victory by keeping the left destabilized and forcing them to use their resources in matters they are usually given by default.

I think the left and the right put too much faith in the idea that they can put their people in the U.S. Supreme Court. While the Supreme Court is important, I think there is a lot that can be done at a lower level. I am obviously no legal expert. It seems to me that if there is an organized effort by the left to elect and appoint bad judges and there is no organized effort from our side, the left will always win by default.

Good post. Judge Kessler is very much a liberal. She's also not that smart as a technical matter. She rose from the local bench to the federal bench strictly on her political connections with the administration.

I once heard her encourage people to settle the smaller cases so she could focus on "high profile" cases. That's so un-democratic: a judge that wants to focus on high-profile cases. Sigh. It's just not my idea of how the democracy should work, at least.

OMG! This is an outrage! These people are a danger to the President , to the citizens of this country who support the government, to the law enforcement groups and to the national security of this country. I hope this does not stand.

28
posted on 10/15/2003 5:23:12 PM PDT
by ladyinred
(Talk about a revolution, look at California!!! We dumped Davis!!!)

I guess if the real undercover cops are given up by this idiotic lefty judge, the photos and reports that we civilians make will become more important in the battle against our enemies on the homefront. The leftists are making great use of our courts to further their mission - to destroy us from within.

I have no doubt at all that Brian Becker and his comrades within cANSWER, IAC, WWP, Partnership for Civil Justice, National Lawyers Guild, Code Pink(o), etc. are supported by and are supporters of the likes of Kim Jong Il, Saddam, Osama, Fidel... and the US media just fawns all over them, covering their rallies as if they are a spontaneous uprising of regular Americans and not an orchestrated propaganda event.

It's because of the dangers posed by these so called "peace" marches and rallies that a bunch of us in DC are going to yet again offer a pro-America counterpoint to all their lies, with our Freedom Rally on October 25th in DC. All like-minded FReepers and friends of freedom are cordially invited to attend and participate!

Click on the image below, which will take you to the SUPPORT OUR TROOPS RALLY thread.

America's military men and women and our president need all of you to show your support of them and their mission by your attendance and participation at the rally.

Please, everyone - do everything you can to be in DC on October 25th. And help spread the word!

These people (IAC et al) are probably the most despicable liars I have ever seen.

They claim that their people were beat and pepper-sprayed... would those be the people who tried (and partially succeeded) to tear down the flags at the US Navy Memorial on Inauguration Day, 2001?

And they have the audacity to cry that some of their protesters were "intimidated and terrorized" by the police - when they have done to their ideological enemies exactly what their lawsuit against the police alleges?

Oh, but it's OK when they send their people into our peaceful, permitted rallies, to tear up our signs, shout down our speakers, push, shove and strike people in the audience?

And it's OK for them to point us out when we are standing quietly in their public rallies, neither disrupting visually or verbally, and incite their audience to do whatever one does to cockroaches?

Free speech for them, and freedom for them to destroy federal property, and freedom to intimidate and terrorize those who do not hold their beliefs. That's the way Fidel works, and that's the way that dictators around the world act; so they have learned well at the knee of their idols.

More and more Americans have learned over the past two-plus years - about the red roots of the peace rioters' leadership; and they are foregoing participation in rallies sponsored by cANSWER, Code Pink(o), NION, etc. Some (maybe even a lot of) Americans still have doubts about the Bush administration's actions in Afghanistan and Iraq - and that is their right - but they care about their country, and they are refusing to be used by the leftists. The crowds that show up for the cANSWER rallies nowadays have shrunk considerably.

And that is very upsetting to Brian Becker, Larry Holmes, Suzie "Medea" Benjamin, Ramsey Clark and the others.

While I am thrilled that you guys will once again face them at the rally, we need a plan to help see that this judge's ruling is overturned! This group, (s) is after FreeRepublic in a big way as you no doubt are aware. Just today I was reading a very long group of posts on one of their websites that curled my very straight hair.

DC Freepers, do you have access to the #'s of the court that is overseeing this appeal?

38
posted on 10/15/2003 6:23:42 PM PDT
by ladyinred
(Talk about a revolution, look at California!!! We dumped Davis!!!)

From the article it appears that DC is appealing the outrageous ruling by the Clinton-appointed judge.

Call me nutty, but when the leftists march down the streets with large banners that encourage US enlisted men and women to shoot their officers - that seems to me that they are encouraging terrorism.

The DC Chapter is having its rally on the other end of the National Mall from the cANSWER rally, so that families and the elderly will feel safe as they show their support for our brave and dedicated military men and women.

After our rally ends I'm sure that a bunch of us will head over to the other end of the Mall (with our cameras and flags) to spectate from a sidewalk as the parade of "Dykes for Despots," "Commies for Castro," "Anarchists against everything," and "Pinkos for Palestinian terrorists" marches in the streets to the Pentagon.

Good for you, the DC Chapter always comes through. Yes, they are appealing, and I just called the Honorable (ha) Kesslers' office, and also sent an email to the court of appeals which I will follow up with a phone call tomorrow. This has to be overturned! They are domestic terrorists!

43
posted on 10/15/2003 7:12:09 PM PDT
by ladyinred
(Talk about a revolution, look at California!!! We dumped Davis!!!)

Well, let's hear a few Democrats scream about outing undercover police/security personnel like they did about the woman who worked at Langley whose husband drank tea in Niger for a week. Or how about the great unbiased Media? They should be all over this like white on rice.

Yeah, right. Meanwhile, in Atlantic City, Ahmed, Mohammed and Gunter rent a white panel van and drive to a warehouse in Jacksonville...

The "Honorable judge Gladys Kessler's phone number is 202-354-3440 ! Please call and tell her your opinion of her ruling. Also, the general info # of the Court of Appeals for DC is: 212-216-7000. Please call and ask them to overturn this ruling asap!

46
posted on 10/15/2003 7:15:31 PM PDT
by ladyinred
(Talk about a revolution, look at California!!! We dumped Davis!!!)

TALK ABOUT HATE GROUP RHETORIC, this thread is linked from most of those groups that are against FR.

Some pretty rough talk going on regarding taking this nation down.

And the Leftist Liberal Judge is making it possible for them to continue.

http://www.PENTAGONLIES.COM

If we are going to become serious about stopping this war, and even the U.S. led atrocities of tomorrow, we must be realistic about our strategies and tactics and actually begin to utilize those methodologies which can and will challenge the power structure of the country. Yes, I am speaking of direct action, but not the generalized version spouted freely today and used to describe primarily conscience serving endeavors. An action is direct if it actually gets in the way, prevents, or stops an injustice from occurring. Unfortunately, the government sanctioned peace parades do not fit into this description. Even though public education is an inherent necessity of any movement, the time for public education by relying upon corporate media's interpretation of your events has long since passed -; if it was ever valuable.

The only possibility of stopping this current military action is to engage in strategies and tactics which severely disrupt the war machine, the U.S. economy, and the overall functioning of U.S. society particularly how it relates to consumerism and the economy. Marches, picketing, rallies, parties, benefits, civil disobedience and even property destruction are pointless, and perhaps even counterproductive, unless they serve to severely disrupt the functioning of the political system and its economy. An atmosphere of severe unrest, if manufactured properly, will force the U.S. government to place military resources in the streets of the United States, will threaten the economy (the chief motive behind this military excursion) of the United States, and ultimately create a political atmosphere unfavorable for Bush to continue on with the war.

48
posted on 10/15/2003 8:30:59 PM PDT
by chadsworth
(Hillary MUST BE STOPPED BEFORE 2004 ; Davis MUST BE REMOVED)

WND is not lying here. I suggest you do some research on your own, You will find plenty. Suggest you go to ANSWERS web site, also follow some of the links posted on this thread. I just spent quite some time doing that, and it is more of an education that I wanted, and I already had plenty.

49
posted on 10/15/2003 9:35:41 PM PDT
by ladyinred
(Talk about a revolution, look at California!!! We dumped Davis!!!)

And, had you done so about a year ago, you would've found links to the IAC and the Worker's World Party. And discovered that all three of these groups, which are allegedly connected, shared the same street address.

50
posted on 10/15/2003 9:44:34 PM PDT
by okie01
(www.ArmorforCongress.com...because Congress isn't for the morally halt and the mentally lame.)

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